The present invention relates to a device for denaturing articles of value of the type comprising at least one reservoir filled with a fluid designed to soil the said articles and a pyrotechnic charge associated with the said reservoir for opening the latter with a view to releasing the said fluid over the said articles.
A device of this kind is described in document EP-B-0,188,155.
This device is used in a container for transporting valuables such as banknotes. It comprises a deformable reservoir filled with ink and equipped with a longitudinal line of weakness. A pyrotechnic cord is placed along this line of weakness. Furthermore, a metallic casing of triangular section is inserted between the pyrotechnic cord and the line of weakness.
When the pyrotechnic cord is ignited, this cord throws the metallic casing on to the line of weakness, which breaks. Under the action of the reverberation of the shock wave against the deformable wall of the reservoir in which vibration occurs, the ink contained in this reservoir is ejected through the opening formed along the line of weakness.
After the device has been triggered, and when most of the ink has been thrown over the articles to be denatured, the reservoir is still in one piece, only the longitudinal line of weakness having been broken to form an opening through which the ink is released.
The effectiveness of such a device is unsatisfactory and the use of a cutting cord is not always sufficient to open any paper envelope or metal wrapper in which the articles to be denatured may be contained. Furthermore, as the ink is thrown over the articles only after the shock wave has reverberated and bounced back from the part of the reservoir opposite its opening, the ink thrown out has a low speed, which means that its dispersion throughout the container is poor.
The object of the invention is to provide a solution to the problem mentioned earlier, and in particular to provide a device for denaturing articles which is effective irrespective of the distribution of the articles in the container, even if these articles are wrapped.
To this end, the subject of the invention is a device for denaturing articles of value of the aforementioned type, characterized in that the or each reservoir is essentially delimited by a wall made of a material which fragments in an appropriate way so that, under the action of the pyrotechnic charge, a multitude of disjointed elemental fragments is produced.
According to particular embodiments, the device may have one or more of the following features:
the said fragmentation material is a borosilicate glass;
the said material is a hardened glass;
the pyrotechnic charge is a detonating cutting cord;
the or each reservoir and the pyrotechnic charge are placed side by side in a deflector that diverges towards its outlet opening, which opening is intended to face towards the said articles;
the or each reservoir has an elongate shape and the pyrotechnic charge extends along the length of the reservoir on the outside of this reservoir;
the deflector has the shape of a channel and is delimited by two side walls that diverge towards the outlet opening and extend along the length of the or of each reservoir;
the pyrotechnic charge is placed inside the reservoir; and
the reservoir has an elongate shape and the pyrotechnic charge extends over most of the length of the reservoir.
Another subject of the invention is a container comprising a chamber for protecting articles of value and a device for denaturing the valuables, which is connected to a triggering unit, characterized in that the denaturing device is a device as defined hereinabove.